Machine for setting or driving rivets and the like



June 29, 1943. w c DENT I 2,323,015

MACHINE FOR SETTING OR DRIVING RIVETS AND THE LIKE Filed July 14, 1941 5Sheets-Sheet 1 June 29, 1943. w. c. DENT 2,323,015

MACHINE FOR SETTING OR DRIVING RIVETS AND THE LIKE Filed July 14, 1941 5Sheets-Sheet 2 ,I nv Ey gw BY 9%.

June 29, 1943. w c, DENT 2,323,015

MACHINE FOR SETTING 0R DRIVING RIVETS AND THE LIKE Filed July 14, 1941 5Sheets Sheet 3 June 29, 1943. I w, c, DENT 2,323,015

MACHINE FOR SETTING 0R DRIVING RIVETS AND THE LIKE Filed July 14, 1941 5Sheets-Shee t 4 W. C. DENT June 29, 1943.

MACHINE FOR SETTING OR DRIVING RIVETS AND THE LIKE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed July. 14, 1941 ATTORNEY Patented June 29, 1943 MACHINE FOR SETTINGOR DRIVING RIVETS AND THE LIKE William Carlyle Dent, Birmingham,England, as-

signor to Baxters (Bolts, Screws & Rivets) Limited, Birmingham, EnglandApplication July 14, 1941, Serial No. 402,362 In Great Britain July 15,1940 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for setting or driving rivets or thelike, being of the kind in which the said rivets or the like are fed insuccession to a pocket or holding device for operation upon by a settingor driving tool.

At present it is usual practice to use a springpressed locating pinbeneath the work, being slidably mounted in the anvil to form part ofthe surface of the latter when depressed, but the pin is liable to weardue to rubbing of the work over it, thus affecting the shape of thelower end of the rivet, especially in the case of semi-tubular rivets;also the pin is invisible from above the work, causing difficulty inlocating the work; and the pin usually has very little strength toresist lateral strains imposed upon it by moving of the work over itwhilst being positioned.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a riveting or likemachine which is designed to enable the work components to be readilyand visibly located, for riveting or joining, by means of a rigidly-heldrivet or the like itself, thus obviating the use of a special locatingdevice, such as a spring-pressed locating pin beneath the work.

Another object is to ensure that the machine is disconnected from thecontrol of the operator and is placed under mechanical control afterlocation of the rivet or the like and during the setting or drivingoperation.

A further object is to ensure that unless the work is correctlypositioned the machine cannot be operated.

A still further object is to provide means whereby a rivet or the likecannot be fed to the pocket or holder unless the clutch is disengagedafter a working stroke.

According to the invention, a method of setting or driving rivets, bythe use of a machine of the kind referred to, is characterised by thefact that the work components are visibly located in relation to eachdescending rivet by means of the rivet itself, each rivet being rigidlyheld in the pocket or holding device and the latter lowered to the workby means controlled by the operator to cause the rivet to enter theholes in the work when the said work has been properly located.

Also, according to the invention, a riveting or like machine, of thekind referred to, comprises means controlled by the operator forlowering the rivet pocket or holder to locate a rivet or the like, heldby said pocket or holder, within holes in the work.

Also, according to the invention, a machine of the kind referred to, forsetting or driving rivets or the like, comprises means controlled by theoperator for lowering the rivet pocket or holder to locate the rivet orthe like within holes in the work components, means for disconnecting orrelieving the pocket or holder from control by the operator afterlocation, and means for mechanically holding the rivet or the like inthe work during the setting or driving operation.

The pocket or holder may be operated by a pedal or the like acting on alever and also controlling the clutch for starting the machine, thepedal transmission to the pocket being initially maintained effective bya cam forming an abutment for a lever controlling the transmission, saidcam moving into an inoperative position when the clutch is engaged, soas to render the pedal inoperative on the pocket, and a second cam thencoming into operation to maintain the pocket lowered and the rivet orthe like in the work during the subsequent operation of the setting ordriving tool.

A locking device may be provided which holds the pocket in a loweredposition prior to the control cam coming into operation, means beingprovided on a moving part of the machine for subsequently releasing saidlocking device before the pocket is raised.

The pedal transmission to the pocket may include a yielding couplingwhich separates or opens should the resistance be excessive, such as ifthe rivet or the like is not properly located in the holes of the work.Thus, the transmission may include a pedal-operated slide having aprojection co-operating with an inclined 0r cam surface on a secondslide operatively connected to the pocket, said second slide beingguided upon a spring-supported lever that yields should the pressureupon the inclined or cam surface exceed a predetermined value.

In connection with the feed chute for supplying the rivets or the liketo the pocket, a separator slide delivers the rivets one at a time to alower chute, and associated with the latter is a second or blockingslide controlled by a member connected to the clutch release mechanism,the arrangement being such that if the clutch release mechanism is notin a condition to disengage the clutch after a working stroke of themachine, the said second slide will take a position in which it blocksthe lower chute and prevents the next rivet from being delivered to thepocket.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represent a vertical sectionthrough a rivet-setting machine in accordance with the presentinvention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the front portion of the machine.

Figure 3 represents a side elevation, partly in section, of the meansfor controlling and throwing out of action the pedal transmission to thepocket slide, and also the yielding coupling in the said transmission.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the means for operating and locking thepocket slide and also the cam means for taking over the control of thepocket slide when the pedal transmission has been put out of action.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional elevation showing the ram and settingtool and the pocket at the top of their travel the pocket being in aposition to receive a rivet from the chute.

Figure 6 is a similar View when the setting tool is fully lowered forsetting a rivet.

Figure 7 is a front elevation showing the pocket and tool in thepositions represented in Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a plan of the pocket.

Figure 9 is a view showing. the clutch release mechanism and the controlslides of the chute.

Referring to the drawings, the riveting machine comprises a head framehaving two spaced side plates or cheeks l between which is secured amain guide block 2 within which is guided a vertically-slidable ram 3carrying a depending rivet-setting tool shank 4 terminating at its lowerend in a tool part 5 of smaller diameter adapted to co-operate with astationary anvil 6 situated below the head of the machine and upon whichthe work I is placed. The ram 3 is operated by upper and lower pairs oftoggle links 8, 9, the upper links 8 being pivoted to a fixed thrustblock Ill and the lower links 9 being pivoted to the ram, and both setsbeing pivoted to a central block H operated in a backward and forwarddirection by a connecting rod I2 from a crank l3 on the main shaft I 4of the machine, whereby the ram is raised and lowered. The rivets arefed from a hopper into a chute I5, l5 (Figures '7 and 9), which deliversthem one at a time to a pocket or holder by which each rivet is loweredto and located within the aligned holes in the work components andrigidly held therein, in alignment with the setting tool 5, previous tothe said tool being lowered by the ram. The pocket or holder consists oftwo recessed separable jaw parts l6, each of half cup form, adapted toreceive and rigidly grip a rivet l1 between their lower ends, as shownin Figure 5. These pocket parts ii are carried by arms l8 secured uponthe lower ends of vertical shouldered carrier pins I 9 which arerotatably mounted to turn, at their upper ends, within bearing holes ina block 20 secured to the underside of an angle-shaped plate 2| (Figures5 to 8) and to turn, by their shouldered lower ends, within bearingholes in a cross-head 22 attached to the lower end of a depending part23 of said block 20. Fixed to the pins l9 are arms 24, 24, the outerends of which embrace the tool shank 4 and which are connected by aspring 25 (Figure 8) that maintains them against said tool shank andtends to close the pocket parts l8 together so as to grip a rivetbetween them. The angleshaped plate 2| constitutes a pocket slide and isadapted to be raised and lowered, being vertically guided by two rods26, 21, attached to the plate and slidable in passages 28, 29, in

the guide block 2. The rod 21 proiects above the block 2 and is actedupon by a spring 30 that tends to raise the pocket.

Upon the tool shank 4 is adjustably fixed a collar 3| having a conicallower end 32 which, as hereinafter described, co-operates with the arms24 of the pocket device to cause the pocket parts 16 to separate torelease the rivet when the tool descends (Figure 6) and to slightly openthe said pocket parts to receive a fresh rivet from the chute lii whenthe pocket rises (Figures 5 and '7). The pocket l6, after receiving arivet from the chute while in its raised position, is adapted to belowered on to the work by the operation of a pedal. As it is lowered,the work, while resting on the anvil 6, is properly located so that therivet H in the pocket will enter the aligned holes of the two componentsheets to be riveted together. The pedal is connected through a yieldingcoupling device to a bellcrank lever 33 (Figure 4) mounted on a plate 34attached to the guide block 2 at one side thereof and carrying a roller35 bearing on the upper end of the pocket-slide rod 21, so as to beadapted to depress the latter against the action of the spring 33 thatoperates to raise the slide. Thus, the pedal (not shown) is connected bya cable 36 (Figure 3) to a vertically-moving slide 31 mounted in avertical guide in a lever 38 normally held rigidly in a verticalposition, but adapted, when the machine has been started, to be releasedor collapsed as hereinafter described. The slide 31 carries a V-shapednose-piece 39 which engages over the curved upper end of another slide40 mounted in vertical guides in the rear face of an upstanding lever 4|supported by its front face against a spring 42 bearing upon anadjustable screw abutment 43 carried by a bracket 44. The spring 42 issufficiently strong to ensure the second slide 40 being drawn downwardsby the first slide 31 for normal lowering of the pocket to take therivet into the holes of the work but should the pressure exerted by thepedal exceed a predetermined value, as in the case where the rivet doesnot properly enter the holes due to faulty location of the work, thespringsupported lever 4| will yield against the spring 42 and thefirst-named slide 31 will ride over the second slide 40 withoutoperating it, so that the machine will not operate unless the work isproperly located. The lever 38 is pivoted to a bracket 45 mounted on theguide block 2 at the opposite side to the plate 34 carrying thebellcrank lever 33, and the second slide 40 is connected by a cable 46passing across the machine through a guide 41 (see Figure 2) to thebellcrank lever 33 that operates the pocket slide. This lever isarranged vertically parallel to the side of the machine and the cable 46is connected to a vertical arm of the lever (Figure 4) to cause it tomove forwardly and its horizontal arm to bear downwardly on thepocket-slide guide rod 21.

The pedal is also arranged to throw in the clutch to start the machine.For this purpose the vertical arm of the above-described bellcrank lever33 is connected by a link 48 to another bell-crank lever 49 carrying apawl 50 that operates the upper arm of a vertically-disposed two-armedlever 5| the lower arm of which is connected by a cable 52 to a clutchreleasing device. This device (see Figure 9) conveniently comprises amain bolt 53 to which the cable 52 is attached and acted upon, through alever 54, by a spring-loaded slide 55, the spring normally causing thebolt 53 to move into the path of an arm 56 on a rotatable key 51 lyingin a groove of the driven shaft l4 and normally turned by a spring toengage a key-way in a driving member (not shown) in the known manner. Inthe normal position the arm 56 is engaged by the bolt 53 so that the key51 is turned out of engagement with the keyway in the driving member,thus disengaging the clutch. When the bolt 53 is withdrawn by the cable52 operated by the pedal, the arm 56 is released and the key 51 isengaged with the driving member to start the machine. The slide 55 mayconstitute a safety bolt, and it is arranged to control the delivery ofrivets by the chute as hereinafter described.

The pawl 50 cannot be moved sufliciently far to cause the clutch toengage until the rivet has been inserted in the work. It wipes past thelever after engagement of the clutch, so that the said lever can returnand the bolt 53 move into a clutch-releasing position ready for throwingthe clutch out after one revolut on, thus stopping the machine aftereach work ng stroke.

When the clutch is being engaged, as above described, the pocket I 6 isfirst locked in its lowered position by a holding device prior to thepedal being rendered inoperative upon the pocket when the machine isstarted. This locking device comprises a horizontal slide 59 having anose adapted to engage a recess 60 in the pocket-slide rod 21. Thisslide 59 i moved into engagement, while the clutch is being operated, bythe lower arm of the two-armed lever 5|. This lower arm engages andmoves forward a sliding rod 61 connected, through a spring or yieldingcoupling 62, to the locking slide 59 or, as shown, to a member 63coupled thereto. When the locking slide 55 is engaged with thepocket-slide guide rod 21 it is held in locked position by aspring-operated pawl 84 that engages a notch or recess 65 in the slide.The pawl is adapted to be subsequently released, to allow the pocket torise, by a suitable part of the mechanism, such as by a projection orplunger 66 on the central member H of the toggle mechanism, when thesetting tool descends.

After the pocket slide has been looked as above described, the pedal irendered inoperative upon said slide and the control of the pocket istaken over by a cam 61 (Figure 4) on the main shaft when the machine hasbeen started. To render the pedal inoperative, the vertical lever 38carrying the pedal-operated slide 31 (Figure 3) is pivoted at it lowerend to the bracket 45 and is connected at the back, near its upper end,by means of a link 68 to the corner of a bell-crank lever 89 having avertical arm pivoted at its lower end to the bracket 45 and having anupper horizontal arm in substantial alignment with the link 68 andcarrying a roller 18 that normally engages a nose 1| on an abutment cam12 mounted on the main shaft. So long as thi cam is stationary the noseforms a rigid abutment for holding the slide-carrying lever 38 in avertical position, so that the operation of the slide 31 thereon willactuate th second slide 48 that is connected to the pocket-slide lever33. When, however, the machine is started, the abutment cam 12 commencesto rotate so that the abutment nose 1| leaves the roller on thebell-crank lever 68 and the slide-carrying lever 38 is no longersupported. Consequently the operation of the pedal merely causes theprimary slide 31 to ride over the second slide 40, the vertical lever 38swinging loosely rearwards. Thus, no motion can be transmitted from thepedal to the pocket slide.

Also, as above referred to, when the machine is 7 started, the control01' th pocket-slide is taken over by a cam 61 on the main shaft. Thiscontrol cam, which is separate from the pedal transmission abutment cam,co-operates (see Figure 4) with a roller 13 on a rearwardly-extendingarm 14 rigidly secured to the vertical arm oI-the bellcrank lever 33that operates the pocket-slide.

The cam 61 thus acts upon said pocket-slide to maintain the rivet withinthe work. At the same time the pocket or a part on the pocket slide maybe pressed down on to the work to maintain the work components clampedtogether.

While the pocket is held down by the cam 61, the setting tool 5 descendson to the head of the rivet, causing the lower end to be headed overwithin a recess in the anvil 6.

After the setting of the rivet a low part oi the control cam 61 allowsthe pocket slide to be raised by the spring 30 to take the pocket into aposition for receiving another rivet from the feed chute, the two partsof the pocket being opened, at the correct moment, by co-operation ofthe arms 24 with the conical part 32 on the setting tool, and when thepocket is again lowered the pocket is closed by the spring 25 to gripthe rivet.

The rivet passing down the feed chute are delivered one at a time to thepocket, at the proper moment, by a spring-controlled regulator orseparator slide 15 (Figure 9) working horizontally between a main upperchute l5 and a lower delivery chute 15" out of alignment with the mainchute IS. The slide 15 has an aperture 18 that receives a rivet from themain chute i5, and when moved longitudinally it carries the rivet into aposition over the lower delivery chute l5, so that it can drop down thesame. The slide is operated when the setting tool 5 is at the bottom ofits stroke, being controlled by a step part 11 on the abutment cam 12(Figure 3). When the roller 10 drops over this step 11 the lever 69falls (or is drawn by a spring) further over to the right so as tooperate a lever 18 connected by a rod 19 to a lever (see Figure 9) thatoperates the slide 15 against the action of a spring 8| so as to takethe aperture 16 over the lower chute 15.

In addition to the above-mentioned regulator slide 15, a second orblocking slide 82 is disposed across the lower delivery chute I 5 belowsaid regulator slide. This blocking slide 82 is controlled and operatedby a part connected to the clutch release mechanism being acted on by aspring 83 and connected to the slide 55 of said mechanism by a cable 84,the arrangement being such that when the bolt 53 returns to itsclutchreleasing position an aperture 85 in the slide is moved, intoregister with the delivery chute 15 to allow a rivet to fall, but shouldthe clutch fail to be disengaged by the bolt 53 at the end of a workingstroke due to failure of the bolt to return to its release position, theslide 82 will not be operated and will lie across the chute to block thesame and thus prevent the delivery of a rivet.

The general sequence of operations is as follows:

When the machine is stationary the ram 3 and tool 5 are in a raisedposition as in Figures 1 and 5, with the pocket 16 also fully lifted andloosely holding a r vet l1 previously received from the chute l5, thearms 24 being just enga ed with the cone 32 on the tool so that thepocket jaws are very slightly separated. The pedal is operated to causethe pocket IE to be lowered through the medium of cable 36, slides 31,40, cable 46, lever 33 and pocket-slide guide rod 21. As the pocketstarts to descend the arms 24 leave the cone 32 and the pocket jaws l6close firmly on to the rivet held between them. The rivet is thusbrought down to the work and is located within the aligned holestherein. The pocket is held in this lowered condition by the operationof locking slide 59 by lever and pawl 50, the said slide being held inengagement with the recess 60 of rod 21 by the catch pawl 64. The clutchhas now also been engaged by lever 5| and cable 52 causing thewithdrawal of the bolt 53 (Figure 9) of the clutch release device, andthe machine is thus set in motion. The tool 5 commences to descend andthe nose ll of cam 12 leaves the roller of lever 69, thus throwing thepedal out of action. The cam 61, however, now comes into operation andtakes over the control of the lever 33, maintaining the pocket 16pressed upon the work and more firmly forcing the rivet into the holes.During the change over from pedal to cam control the pocket is held downby the locking slide 59, but as the ram descends the central member llof the toggle mechanism and its plunger or projection 66 trips the pawl64 so that the slide 59 is only lightly engaged with rod 21 when thepawl 50 has wiped past the lever 5|. As the tool approaches the bottomof its stroke the cone 32 engages the pocket-operating arms 24 andseparates the pocket jaws l6 to release their grip on the rivet, and asthe tool descends further it engages and sets the rivet in the work(Figure 6). The tool then ascends and the pocket is also raised byspring 30 as permitted by the shape of the cam 61, until the arms 24just engage the cone 32 when the ram is fully. raised (Figures 5 and 7).The nose H of cam 12 has now restored the lever 69 to its initialposition ready for the next pedal operation of the pocket. When the ramis at the bottom of its stroke the slide of the chute is operated totransfer a rivet to the lower chute l5 through which it falls providedthe bolt 53 has returned to its clutch-releasing position, but it cannotleave the end of the chute as it is prevented from so doing by the closeproximity of the tool shank 4. When, however, the ram has risensufiiciently for this shank to clear the chute the rivet will leave thechute as the pocket rises to its highest position and will fall betweenthe jaws of said pocket as the latter are slightly opened by contact ofthe arms 24 with cone 32.

I claim:

1. A machine for driving or setting rivets and the like comprising avertically-movable setting or driving tool, a clutch for starting themachine and causing the descent of the tool, a verticallymovable pocketfor gripping and holding a rivet or the like, feed means for supplyingrivets or the like one at a time to the pocket when the latter israised, a pedal controlling the clutch for starting the machine, a slidecarrying the pocket, transmission means between the pedal and thepocket-carrying slide, separable coupling members in the transmission, alever on which one of the coupling members is mounted, a cam having anabutment for the lever to maintain the coupling members in couplingengagement before the machine is started but moving into an inoperativeposition when the clutch is engaged and the machine is started so as torender the pedal inoperative on the pocket slide, and a second cam whichthen comes into operation upon the pocket slide to maintain the pocketlowered and the rivet or the like in the work while the setting ordriving tool descends.

2. A machine for driving or setting rivets and the like comprising avertically-movable setting or driving tool, a clutch for starting themachine and causing the tool to descend, a pedal controlling the clutchto start the machine, a vertically-movable pocket slide, a pocketcarried by the slide gripping and holding a rivet or the like, feedmeans for supplying rivets or the like one at a time to the pocket whensame is raised, transmission means between the pedal and pocket slidecausing the slide to descend when the pedal is operated, means forinterrupting the transmission between the pedal and pocket slide whenthe machine is started, a control cam which then comes into operationupon the pocket slide to hold the pocket lowered while the tool descendson to the rivet or the like, 'a locking device that holds the pocket inthe lowered position prior to the control cam coming into operation,means on a moving part of the machine for subsequently releasing saidlocking device, and means for raising the pocket slide.

3. A machine for driving or setting rivets and the like comprising avertically-movable powerdriven tool, a vertically-movable pocket slide,a pocket for holding a rivet or the like carried by said slide andconsisting of gripping members closed by spring action to grip a rivetor the like between them, feed means for supplying rivets or the likeone at a time to the pocket when the latter is raised, a clutch forstarting the machine, a pedal operative to cause the clutch to engageand the machine to start, transmission means between the pedal andpocket slide to cause the pocket to be lowered by operation of the pedaland the rivet or the like in the pocket to be located in holes in thework, and a yielding coupling in the transmission which separates shouldthe rivet or the like not be properly located in the holes in the work.

4. A machine for driving or setting rivets and the like comprising avertically-movable powerdriven tool, a vertically-movable pocket slide,a pocket for receiving and holding a rivet or the like carried by saidslide, feed means for supplying rivets or the like one at a time to thepocket when the latter is raised, a clutch for starting the machine, apedal operatively connected to cause the clutch to engage a transmissionslide connected to the pedal and having an inclined projection, a leveron which the slide is guided, a cam having an abutment for the lever, asecond transmission slide having an inclined surface engaged by theprojection of the first-named slide, a lever on which the second slideis guided, a spring supporting said lever, an operating lever engagingthe pocket slide for lowering it, a connection between the secondtransmission slide and the operating lever to cause the pocket to belowered by operation of the pedal and the rivet therein to be located inthe work, and a second cam that becomes operative upon thepocketoperating lever when the machine is started, the first-named cammoving into an inoperative position when the clutch is engaged so thatthe pedal is inoperative upon the pocket slide which is held lowered bythe second cam while the tool descends and acts on the located rivet orthe like.

5. A machine for driving or setting rivets and the like comprising apower-driven tool, a vertically-movable slide, a pocket for gripping arivet or the like carried by said slide, a pedal operative to lower thepocket slide and locate for starting the machin the rivet or the likewithin the work, an upper controlled by the pedal feed chute, a lowerfeed chute leading to a pothe clutch release device to sition forsupplying rivets or the like to the ing slide, the arrangement pocketwhen the latter is raised, a separator 5 clutch release device is nslide between the two chutes, means for operatcause the clutch to dlsening said separator slide to transfer a rivet or 111 t k a position inthe like from the upper to the lower chute, a h t blocking slidecrossing the lower chute, a clutch oearcn H00] e, a clutch releasedevice d means operated by r actuating the blockbeing such that if theat in a condition to gage the blocking slide which it blocks the lowerWILLIAM CARLYLE DENT.

